The Farmlink Project

Fighting food insecurity is The Farmlink Project’s ultimate goal- repurposing surplus produce is our solution to achieving this goal. We grow enough food to feed every person on Earth, yet 1/3 of that food goes to waste each year while millions of people go to bed hungry. The Farmlink Project is an innovative nonprofit rescuing millions of pounds of fresh produce that would otherwise go to waste and in order to feed people in need, support essential workers, and create a more sustainable future.

Community food banks are often in dire need of fresh, nutritious produce, and our mission is to secure exactly that. By transporting fresh produce to community partners across the nation, The Farmlink Project is able to serve vulnerable communities directly, which promotes the health and well-being of the people in them. The Farmlink Project’s mission includes a commitment to supporting farmers in their craft. The Farmlink Project provides assistance for the vital work they do- work that often serves as the backbone of the food supply chain in their communities. Sustainability is also at the heart of The Farmlink Project’s mission. If food waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gas in the world. The Farmlink Project combats this statistic by reducing food waste at the top of the supply chain: the farms themselves.

Additionally, our goals include:
1) The Farmlink Project intends to increase the volume of produce delivered to communities and rescued from farms while simultaneously improving our cost margins.

2) The Farmlink Project is seeking to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions through our produce rescue operations, as well as through our carbon offsetting program, Carbonlink.

3) The Farmlink Project aims to expand our operations to new communities across the country.

4)The Farmlink Project is seeking greater diversification of our volunteers and staff, and is looking to recruit more people from communities across the country.

Strategies for reaching our goals include:
1) The Farmlink Project has transported over 70 million pounds of produce to communities across the United States. We seek to increase our total pounds delivered, which Farmlink tracks internally by working with community partners and farmers. Farmlink’s Deals Team is currently moving food for 2.7 cents per pound, down from 3.5 cents per pound earlier in the year. As we continually improve our cost margins, funds from our generous donors are able to be used more effectively. As the Deals Team continues to reduce operating costs, this value will increase. Updated metrics can be provided as requested by funding partners.

2)Farmlink measures carbon offsets by using two metrics: 1) direct greenhouse gas emission reductions from food rescue operations and 2) our carbon crediting program, Carbonlink. Our current measures indicate that Farmlink has successfully prevented over 40 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions and we expect that metric to only grow. As one of the leading emitters of greenhouse gases, food waste is one of the problems Farmlink seeks to address while conducting our operations. Current metrics indicate that our ratio of produce rescued to greenhouse gas emissions reduced/prevented is approximately 5 units to 2 units. This means that every five pounds of rescued food results in two fewer pounds of greenhouse gas emissions escaping into the atmosphere.
Farmlink is developing a carbon credit program unique amongst food rescue organizations. Carbonlink works with leading carbon researchers to develop and support comprehensive offset projects that prevent emissions from our global food system. We are the only offset available that can transform our food system from the largest carbon polluter to the largest carbon drawdown system on the planet.

3) Since our founding in 2020, Farmlink has served 363 unique community food organizations in 45 states and Mexico. We are looking to continue expanding our network to include all 50 states as well as new communities in Mexico.

4)Farmlink records self-reported demographics information from our staff and as such, we are seeking to expand the breadth of identities that are present on our team and in our network. Presently, we track gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and disability status.
Farmlink is offering an opportunity for student fellow applicants to be hired into paid positions with our organization. The Farmlink Project recognizes the barrier that may come with having additional time to perform unpaid volunteer work. As we seek to transform our food system, through supply chain management and Carbonlink (among other things), Farmlink wants to include the ideas and passions with the greatest diversity of people we are able to.

Going forward, Farmlink aims to build upon our foundation, nurture our roots, and expand opportunities for full-time staffing. Doing so will allow Farmlink to ensure institutional longevity by building more meaningful relationships to funders and community partners. In July of 2021, as a testament of commitment to our future, The Farmlink Project initiated the transition from our fiscal sponsor, Food Finders, to a dedicated 501(c)(3) organization.

The Farmlink Project was born in a time of crisis for many, but has endured to prove we are here for the long haul. The founding members quickly realized the issues of food insecurity, food waste, and supply chain mismanagement pervade our food system and turned awareness into action. As our network of Farmlinkers has grown, so has our sphere of influence.

From partnerships with companies and foundations, to the generosity of everyday people, Farmlink has been able to continue funding our mission to serve disadvantaged, food-insecure communities across the country. The present success of The Farmlink Project would not be possible without the ongoing support of generous donors.

Farmlink does more than transport food to communities who need it; we are actively working to improve the food system, looking beyond the current food banking model to advance the dignity, choice, and consistency in communities’ access to fresh produce. Farmlink is a food rescue organization, and our efforts to rescue food have required innovative collaboration. Carbonlink, for example, is Farmlink’s choice for offsetting our carbon emissions that occur while executing our food rescue operations. Our model for securing a more just and sustainable food system focuses on large issues with the greatest impact on the environment, as well as the communities we serve. Since Farmlink’s inception, we have prevented over 40 million pounds of CO2 emissions from escaping into the atmosphere through direct action and carbon offsetting. This approach allows us to not only fulfill our mission of providing food security, dignity, and consistency to communities in need, but also promotes the health and well-being of the food system at large–the network that connects farms to our communities, and our communities to our homes.